Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the Rocky films, initially portrayed as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He was played by Carl Weathers. He is a tough but agile African-American boxer with a Larry Holmes-like jab, and his name is a reference to the Apostle's Creed. The character was inspired by the real-life champion Muhammad Ali, having what one author remarked as the same "brash, vocal, and theatrical" personality. Protagonist Rocky Balboa, Creed's rival in Rocky and Rocky II, faces underdog odds (five-to-one in Rocky II) and views Creed with respect, pointedly refusing the prodding of a reporter to 'trash talk' against Creed by laconically remarking, "He's great". In Rocky, Creed essentially cleans out his division of serious challengers and magnanimously decides to fight rookie contender Rocky Balboa for the fan spectacle. In the film and its sequel, Balboa and Creed find themselves basically evenly matched in the ring, ending up friends by the third movie. Creed had multiple nicknames, including most prominently "The Master of Disaster". Others include "The King of Sting", "The Dancing Destroyer", "The Prince of Punch", and "The Count of Monte Fisto". A 2013 poll of former heavyweight champions and boxing writers, including former WBA heavyweight star James "Bonecrusher" Smith, ranked Creed as the second-best boxer in the Rocky series. All of Apollo's championship fights were scheduled for the 15-round distance. Championship fights did not convert from 15 rounds to 12 rounds until 1982 (WBC), and 1988 (WBA and IBF.) Fighting style In the film series, Creed is known as one of the world's best fighters, possessing a combination of great speed and strength. His powerful jab and emphasis on agility complement his flashy personality and outfit. In terms of weaknesses, his only major drawback appears to his deep sense of pride and strong self-confidence, which allows Rocky to get an edge over him in the ring from surprising Creed. Like Ali, Apollo was an outside fighter, relying on his speed and power to get through fights. His jab-cross-hook combination were his mainstay, and, also like Ali, Creed's defense was heavily contingent upon his speed. Apollo used Ali's "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" philosophy, being able to bob and weave and frustrate his opponents. A notable difference was that though Creed had Ali's unorthodox hand positioning, he ducked, bobbed and weaved in the classic style, as opposed to Ali who preferred to move backwards, in contradiction to boxing's basic tenets, but with success. Perhaps the reason for this was that only Ali could be that unorthodox and look convincing; where most boxing instructors would tell you that you can't land a punch when you're retreating backwards, Ali did that too with regularity. Also unlike Ali, Apollo wasn't very political and had very little to say on social issues. In Rocky I, a reporter asked him if it mattered to him that he was fighting a white man on the most celebrated day in our country's history, to which Apollo replied, "About as much as it matters to him that he's fighting a black man on the most celebrated day in our country's history." Like Ali, Creed was susceptible to taking a lot of damage during fights because of the level at which he held his hands, a fact which ultimately proved to be his undoing. By the second film, his fancy wind up and punch with the other fist looked like it came from Sugar Ray Leonard. Category:Male Characters Category:Rocky series Category:Rocky Characters Category:Rocky II Characters Category:Rocky III Characters Category:Rocky IV Characters